This invention relates generally to a system for measuring the amount of area traversed by a vehicular implement and, more particularly, it relates to an electronic system for measuring the amount of area traversed by a tractor-drawn farm implement such as a seed planter, sprayer, or cultivating implement.
There are a number of applications where a vehicular implement is used to treat an area of ground and it is desirable for the operator of the implement to be able to conveniently and quickly determine the area of ground treated. For example, a farmer often pulls a vehicular planting implement behind his tractor which mechanically and systematically plants seeds in the ground. Such a planter has a seed dispenser of a given width from which the seeds are typically planted in a plurality of parallel rows in the ground. The area covered by such an implement thus depends upon not only the distance traveled by the implement but also the width of the seed dispenser. Other implements, such as liquid sprayers and cultivators, also operate on an area which is determined by both the distance traversed and the implement width and in each of these situations, it is desirable for the farmer to know at any given time how much acreage he has covered so that he may control, for example, the seed population, density of liquid sprayed, or the like.
Conventional means for obtaining such information are often not as well suited for the application desired or as accurate as the operator may wish. For example, the operator may use the reading given by his odometer on the tractor and then, through a series of measurements and computations, arrive at a rough figure as to the area covered. Such a system is not particularly accurate (conventional odometers typically are no better than 95% accurate) nor is it especially convenient to a farmer out in the field.
Moreover, conventional acreage measurement systems are sometimes not as flexible as may be desired in terms of permitting the operator to transfer the system from one tractor or implement to another. To be so flexible, of course, requires that the system be adjustable to take into account the various implement widths customarily found in farm implements. Moreover, since distance and acreage counting devices often employ mechanical means driven by the front wheel of the tractor or vehicular implement, the counter should be adaptable for use with different circumference driving wheels.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a new and improved system for measuring the amount of area traversed by a vehicular implement.
It is another object of the invention to provide such a system which is efficient and simple to operate.
It is a specific object of the invention to provide such a system which is easily adaptable to implements of various widths and for accommodating wheel-actuated distance sensors having different driving wheel circumferences.